The strikes, 73 in total, targeted multiple Houthi sites in Yemeni cities controlled by the Iranian-backed group and followed a string of Houthi attacks in the Red Sea on Israeli-bound vessels.
SANA’A, Yemen – In attacks on Thursday night, Yemen was subjected to “blatant American-British aggression,” Houthi spokesman Mohammed Abdul Salam said on Friday, stressing that despite the attacks, the group will continue targeting Israeli-linked vessels in the Red Sea.
In a statement, the group’s spokesman said: “The Republic of Yemen was subjected to blatant American-British aggression in order to protect Israel and to stop Yemen’s operations in support of Gaza.”
The US and UK committed “foolishness with this treacherous aggression,” he said.
The group’s spokesman stressed that this will not “deter Yemen from supporting Palestine and Gaza.”
The group said US and British forces launched 73 strikes, killing five of its fighters. The group’s military spokesman, Yahya Saree, said “the American-British enemy, in the context of its support for the continuation of the Israeli crimes in Gaza, launched a brutal aggression against Yemen with 73 strikes.”
Saree said the raids targeted “the capital Sana’a and the governorates of Hodeidah, Taiz, Hajjah, and Saada.”
These attacks led to the death of five Houthi fighters and the injury of six others, the spokesman added.
The US and UK strikes targeted multiple Houthi sites in Yemeni cities controlled by the Iranian-backed group and followed a string of Houthi attacks in the Red Sea on Israeli-bound vessels.
US President Joe Biden said on Friday he ordered the strikes “in direct response to unprecedented Houthi attacks against international maritime vessels in the Red Sea.”
The group affirmed that “there is absolutely no justification for this aggression against Yemen, as there was no threat to international navigation in the Red or Arabian Seas.”
Ali Al-Houthi, a member of the group’s Supreme Political Council, said: “The American-British strikes are barbaric, terrorist, and a deliberate and unjustified aggression that reflects a brutal psychology.”
The Houthi leader stressed that “these strikes confirm once again that they (US and UK) are the ones directing the aggression against Gaza just as they are directing it against Yemen.”
He stated that the two countries “protect Israeli terrorism” because they, themselves, represent “terrorism.”
The attacks came hours after the leader of the Houthi group, Abdul-Malik al-Houthi, warned that anyone risking military action against his country would “pay the price,” stressing that any American aggression “will never go unanswered.” – Agencies
